Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Reilly. In opposing amendment No. 3, I want to give the Deputy some background. The levy is designed to be cost-recovery in nature and is not revenue generating. It is to recover the costs incurred for the activities undertaken by Coimisiún na Meán and the CCPC in their work in forcing the digital services regulation or the terrorist content online regulation.

The Bill states that the coimisiún must seek to ensure that the amount of the levy is sufficient to meet its expenses, properly incurred. There is also a provision that any surplus of income, over those expenses properly incurred, must either be refunded proportionately to the providers or retained to be offset against subsequent levy obligations. It thus sets out that Coimisiún na Meán or the CCPC, when calculating the amount of the levy, should consider their expenses in that period related to performing functions in respect of the regulated entities.

If we look at the CCPC, for example, the Bill amends the Digital Services Act 2024, which in section 44 designates the CCPC as a competent authority for Articles 30 to 32 of the EU digital services regulation. The Bill now explicitly states that the levy will meet the CCPC's expenses incurred relating to the performance of its functions as the competent authority designated under section 44 of the Digital Services Act. The levy cannot be collected for any reason other than funding the work of the CCPC or Coimisiún na Meán in relation to its activities as a designated regulator of those providers. Additionally, section 21(5) of the existing Act, and this is mirrored for the CCPC, provides explicitly for cost apportionment, such that the levy on the distinct providers of services should be proportionate to the expenses associated with functions relating to those providers of the services.

In that context, and I hope that gives the Deputy the clarification, I do not believe the amendments proposed are necessary to ensure that the levy collected from those regulated entities is for any other reason than funding the enforcement activities of an coimisiún or the CCPC in respect of their specific competence under the Digital Services Act 2024.

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